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Overview

What do you do when you’ve fallen for your best friend? Funny and romantic, this effervescent story about family, friendship, and finding yourself is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han.

Seventeen-year-old Abby Turner’s summer isn’t going the way she’d planned. She has a not-so-secret but definitely unrequited crush on her best friend, Cooper. She hasn’t been able to manage her mother’s growing issues with anxiety. And now she’s been rejected from an art show because her work “has no heart.” So when she gets another opportunity to show her paintings, Abby isn’t going to take any chances.

Which is where the list comes in.

Abby gives herself one month to do ten things, ranging from face a fear (#3) to learn a stranger’s story (#5) to fall in love (#8). She knows that if she can complete the list, she’ll become the kind of artist she’s always dreamed of being.

But as the deadline approaches, Abby realizes that getting through the list isn’t as straightforward as it seems . . . and that maybe—just maybe—she can’t change her art if she isn’t first willing to change herself.

Product Details

About the Author

Kasie West lives with her family in central California, where the heat tries to kill her with its 115-degree stretches. She graduated from Fresno State University with a BA degree that has nothing to do with writing. Visit her online at www.kasiewest.com.

Editorial Reviews

12/01/2017Gr 7 Up—It's been a tight-knit group of four teens—Abby, Cooper, Rachel, and Justin—for many years. But this summer, Rachel and Justin will be away, and Abby and her handsome best friend Cooper are keeping each other company when they're not working and volunteering. Abby has a tremendous unrequited crush on Cooper and was rejected romantically last year when she declared her love, but is realizing that hanging out constantly and not wanting to lose him as a friend is increasingly difficult, given her deep feelings. She's also handling several stressful situations at home: trying to manage her mom's increasing anxiety while her dad is away serving in the military, and striving to improve her artwork which has been judged as having no heart. Abby decides to create a list of ways to challenge herself and help open her horizons, which should theoretically improve her painting skills. Does she have to distance herself from Cooper in order to move on? The prolific rom-com YA author entertains in this enjoyable, semi-serious contemporary title that is sure to please her many fans. VERDICT Another chaste and appealing title that should circulate heavily among romance fans and reluctant readers, this is just-right for libraries where West's other work has an audience.—Susan Riley, Mamaroneck Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

2017-12-03A year ago, Abby confessed her love to her best friend, Cooper—and it didn't go well.Abby tried to laugh it off. Each pretends it never happened, but Abby's feelings are unchanged. She's doubly blindsided when her other passion, art, hits a roadblock. Her paintings are rejected for inclusion in an art museum show, deemed technically proficient but lacking in heart. Determined to turn that around, and with family brainstorming support, she creates a to-do list of activities to deepen her emotional expression, enlisting Cooper's intermittent participation. They watch a mountain sunrise, read books outside their comfort zones, audition for a musical, and more. Abby makes friends, including classmate and sculptor Elliot Garcia, and her work shows progress. Abby worries about her mother's agoraphobia; it's worsened during her father's long deployments overseas, especially since the family moved off-base, away from supportive military families. A refreshing departure from teen-literature tropes, Abby's no brainy polymath acing AP English (the book she chooses is A Tale of Two Cities) and destined for Stanford. However, plotting is shaky: subplots go nowhere; outcomes negate what came before. Cooper's friendly, romantic disinterest in Abby feels very real—its explanation and resolution, less so. Most characters are white or appear so by default. Elliot Garcia has dark, curly hair and a Spanish last name but lacks ethnic assignment. Abby's friends Rachel, who's black, and Justin, who's Latinx, are minor characters.Abby's likable, but her romantic passivity and hijacked artistic endeavors send a disempowering message. (Fiction. 12-16)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Kasie West books are so addicting, every time I read her new one I wish 5 of them were published at the same time so I binge them. I have probably said this in a review for one of her books before, but her books are PERFECT for when I am in a reading slump, and this one did not fail me.
I definitely am not the biggest fan of books where there is unrequited love at the beginning, even if I know it is most likely going to end happy, so that would probably be my one complaint.
Other than getting angry at Cooper for not realizing what was right in front of him for 300 pages, I did seriously love this book. I loved how sarcastic Abby was, and her emails between her and her dad had me cracking up at some points.
I lied, there is another complaint, and that is I WANTED MORE. I feel like that is always how it is with contemporary books, I need more of the side characters, and I need more of the happy ending.

thereadingchick

11 months ago

Do you ever start off reading a book thinking it’s about one thing, but your own experience with the words on the page make your experience something entirely different? That’s what happened to me with Kasie West’s Love, Life and the List.
Abby is seventeen years old and in love with her best friend Cooper. As if that’s not bad enough, she is trying to enter her art into an exhibit to help her chances of getting into art school but her mentor tells her that she hasn’t lived through enough life experiences to portray art with feeling. Abby is pretty destroyed, but determined to live life to the fullest by following a list she creates. What’s on the list? Things like facing your fear; watch a life end; experiencing unrequited love, etc. and her painting changes as she does with each life event she faces.
I think we’ve all lived through Abby’s emotion of loving her best friend and not having that love returned. Although mine was at a little bit older of an age, those feelings came rushing right back as she tried to deny the importance of her feelings. Thankfully she had some other things to check off to keep her busy and as she did I realized I should make my own list because even though I’m older, there is still a lot I need to experience. Kasie West’s point about your life becoming 3D by living through different experiences was poignant, and even though sometimes I’m human and want to avoid heavy emotions, reading this book made me think I may be missing something by not living them. (OK, I am mostly thinking about my avoidance of movies and books that make me cry, but even so, I may be missing something!)
Cooper was a charming leading man. He was a typical teen in that he didn’t think that far into the future and so in making a joke of Abby’s feelings he actually hurts himself as much as he hurts her. He was a really fun character to read and I enjoyed their sparring, but was thankful to see his character growth because it gave him dimension and the story more impact. I enjoyed experiencing life through Abby’s character and loved how quickly this plot moved. If you are looking for a one hanky lighthearted romance, I think this is the story for you!

lilacqueen75

More than 1 year ago

First of all, I was so happy to see that this is the first is a three book series because I'm dying to get to know the Four Amigos better. Cooper and Abby are just two of the four. Abby is an artist and in an attempt to develop more "heart" in her painting, she comes up with a list. I love this idea! In a way, it's a little like a Bucket List, but it's more immediate and more about experiences and overcoming things than it is about visiting places. I think anything like this, forcing yourself out of the box, will help develop perspective and character. In fact, I may try something like this myself (yes, even at my age).
Abby is snarky and sarcastic, but I really adored her--especially the relationships and interactions that she shares with her grandpa, her deployed dad, and her problematic mom. I love the person she grows into as she tackles this list and I really love the friendship she shares with Cooper, although there were times when I thought she was just a glutton for punishment--you know, unrequited love and all. Cooper is funny, lovable, and clueless, but I still found him charming.
This book is angsty and sweet and the feels hit me right in the heart. I'm still a little undecided on the ending, but overall I really did enjoy my summer with Cooper and Abby in their beach town.
Content: very mild romance

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Fans of Kasie West's previous books will love this new release. A cute story about a girl coming out of her shell.

Alyssa75

More than 1 year ago

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***
Love, List, and the List by Kasie West
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: December 26, 2017
Rating: 4 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher
Summary (from Goodreads):
Everyone knows Abby Turner is in love with her best friend, Cooper Wells. Including Cooper Wells. But despite what people tell her, it doesn’t affect their friendship. And she’s practically over it, anyway. What she really can’t get over is when her boss at the local museum tells her that her paintings lack heart.
Art is Abby’s passion and she hopes her future as well. She is determined to change his mind and earn her way into the upcoming exhibit at the gallery. So along with her family’s help, she compiles “The Heart List,” a series of soulstretching experiences that are sure to make her a deeper person and better artist in six weeks or less. When Cooper decides to complete the list along with her, she realizes this list is expanding her heart in more ways than one. Maybe she needs to start another project.
Love, Life, and the List is about a girl who, in an effort to bring more emotional depth to her art, compiles a list of soul-stretching experiences to complete with her best friend—a boy she also happens to be in love with.
This is the first in a set of three standalone books with crossover characters.
What I Liked:
I'd seen early reviews of this book and for some reason, I thought I wouldn't enjoy the book. I've read all of West's books. Her latest two books, By Your Side and Lucky in Love, were okay, but not my favorites. I missed the earlier stories like The Distance Between Us and The Fill-In Boyfriend. Personally, I thought Love, Life, and the List, was more like Kasie West's older stuff. It was sweet, thought-provoking, and very shippy.
Abby has the whole summer ahead of her, and she plans to work at the art museum, and hopefully ask the director to feature her paintings in an upcoming exhibit gallery for which she technically doesn't mean the requirements. But Mr. Wallace tells her that while her art is good, it lacks "heart". And so begins the Heart List, which includes ten things that Abby will try to do give her more experiences and depth. With the help of her best friend Cooper, who she has been in love with for years, she hopes to gain new experiences to be able to improve her painting, so she can paint five new paintings for the exhibit - if Mr. Wallace lets her feature her work. But in trying to expand her experiences, she also opens her heart.
This is probably West's longest novel, clocking in at 384 pages. It takes place over a summer between junior and senior year of high school. Abby is one fourth of a friend group, including herself, Cooper, Rachel, and Justin. Rachel is off to Europe with her family, and Justin is doing religious work in South America, and that leaves Abby and Cooper. This sounds great in theory, except a year ago, Abby declared her feelings for Cooper... and that wasn't well-received. So she played it off as a joke and a year later, they are still friends. But the more they hang out, trying to cross things off her Heart List, the more she feels herself falling for him (like she ever stopped to begin with).
Read the rest of my review on my blog, The Eater of Books! - eaterofbooks DOT blogspot DOT com :)

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

A great read!

ahyperboliclife

More than 1 year ago

Kasie West contemporaries always provide the light and fluffy goodness that I look for in these kinds of contemporaries. Love, Life, and the List is a fun friends-to-lovers story about pushing yourself and finding yourself. Plus, there’s great family dynamics and great art - always good things. We follow Abby Tucker as she spends her summer conquering her fears, facing challenges, and suppressing her feelings for her best friend Cooper. That leads to a adventurous summer of feelings and growth that creates a story that was a joy to read.
Things I Liked
This doesn’t really have anything to do with this book specifically, but the series overall, but I love that this series is going to feature crossover characters for the different books! I love series with crossover characters because it’s like a series of standalones, and you can really read them in any order.
I absolutely loved the family dynamics in the story! I liked that we got to see Abby dealing with her mom’s anxiety. I liked that we got a bit of an extended family, with her grandfather living with them. Also, Abby had such a fantastic relationship with her grandfather - they both have such fantastic sarcastic humor that really resonated with me.
I really liked the list that Abby made. I appreciate that she wanted to grow and better her artwork, but I LOVED that she picked traits she admired in her friends and family. I thought it was really nice.
Things I Didn’t Like
I would have liked more from Lacey and Elliot. I liked seeing Abby branch out beyond her friendship with Cooper, and gaining more friends and some independence. We started to get more of them at the end of the story, but I would have liked it a bit sooner.
How many other ways can I say adorable and fluffy? This was honestly such a great contemporary that takes you on a journey and takes your mind off anything. It also put me in a fantastic reading mood. Love, Life, and the List just made me happy and I appreciate that. This book was a great contemporary and I had a great time.
I received a copy of the book from HarperTeen in exchange for an honest review

book_junkee

More than 1 year ago

This was exactly what I wanted to read.
Love love love the BFF to more trope and Abby and Cooper are adorable together. I love their snark and banter and her art and his goofiness. I really enjoyed being on Abby’s head while she figured everything. There’s a great set of characters here and I can’t wait to see who gets a story.
Plot wise, it was slow enough for me to savor and quick enough to satisfy. I loved the idea of the list and how everyone in her family wants to help. Her grandpa is especially sweet.
Overall, it was classic Kasie: fun and fluffy and definitely a favorite.
**Huge thanks to Harper Teen for providing the arc free of charge**

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